NORTHAMPTON – The city’s solid waste manager pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court Monday to operating under the influence of alcohol and illegal possession of pepper spray and prescription drugs.

Karen Bouquillon

Police arrested Karen Bouquillon, 46, of 36 North Road, Montgomery, after responding to a report of an accident on Hatfield Street shortly after 7 p.m. on Sunday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found Bouquillon’s Subaru Forester with a flat tire. The front end had sustained serious damage and there was tree bark on the car, according to police reports. A utility trailer she was apparently towing was detached from the car.

After detecting alcohol on Bouquillon’s breath, police administered field sobriety tests and placed her under arrest. She also failed a Breathalyzer test, police said. Bouquillon told officers at the scene that she had consumed three beers.

When police searched Bouquillon’s vehicle, they found pepper spray and medication for which she did not have a prescription, the report said.

Police noted that Bouquillon had taken part in a Drug Take Back Program the previous day, in which members of the public turned in unused prescription medications for disposal.

The report also said that the pepper spray in Bouquillon’s possession had been given to her by police in her role as solid waste manager to be destroyed.

Bouquillon was charged with five counts of possession of a Class E substance, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card (for the pepper spray), operating under the influence of alcohol, negligent operation of a motor vehicle and having an open container of alcohol. She was released on her own recognizance by Judge W. Michael Goggins, who scheduled a pretrial hearing for June 7.

Neither the Department of Public Works nor the city’s Human Resources Department would comment on the matter.